PESHAWAR: Exorbitant raise in fee for party ticket by Awami National Party has discouraged diehard political workers from even applying for the seats of National Assembly and provincial assembly for the upcoming polls.

“Since my childhood, I am a worker and follower of Bacha Khan. I applied last time for reserved MPA seat. This time I could not do so because I couldn’t afford the fee,” said a senior worker of ANP.

The party has initiated the process of allotting tickets to the prospective candidates for the next general elections. However, many women workers, who could qualify for the seats reserved for women in provincial assembly and National Assembly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata didn’t apply as they could not afford the fee of ticket.

The senior party worker claims to have been a sepoy (soldier) of Bacha Khan’s movement for the last 40 years.

Party wants to collect funds for upcoming general elections

A diehard worker and nationalist to the core, the senior worker quickly tried to cover up her financial situation — and perhaps fearing reprisal from her party — by saying she was never in politics for portfolio. She said that she believed in Bacha Khan, who fought for the rights of Pakhtuns.

She has also won local government elections but couldn’t make to the provincial assembly when ANP won majority seats in 2018 general elections. She feels she has a duty of canvassing for the male candidate from her constituency.

“I am not upset that my name was much below on the priority list of reserved seats for women last time. I am a worker and would be canvassing for the male candidate of the party. At the moment I am busy in holding meeting with women,” said the senior political worker, who hails from a conservative area.

She was quiet below on the party’s priority list even last time so she thought it best to not apply this time when the ticket fee was already much above her affordability.

“I have no hope of ever contesting on direct seat in general elections due to the fact that a man can spend a lot on election and I don’t have so much financial resources,” said the ANP worker.

Another woman party worker also said that increase in the ticket fee discouraged her too at first. “I was not applying but then on insistence of friends I spent all my savings for a business on the ticket,” said the woman, who comes from working class but is an old worker of ANP.

She believed that many women workers were discouraged from applying for the party ticket as the fee was beyond their affordability.

The party ticket fee, which was in previous elections around Rs25,000 to Rs35,000, has been increased manifolds, according to her.

A party worker, who applied for ticket for National Assembly seat, told Dawn that fee for provincial assembly seat was Rs100,000 while for National Assembly seat it was Rs200,000.

The ticket fee for the provincial assembly seats reserved for minorities and women was Rs200,000 and Rs400,000 for National Assembly.

Some of the senior members, who were contacted to ascertain reasons behind raise in fee for party ticket, said the party had decided to increase the fee to raise funds for the upcoming elections. They said that there was no other way to raise funds for the party.

“A woman from middle or lower middle class, who might have remained diehard worker in party, may never make it to the provincial or National Assembly if such is the fee structure,” said a worker.

She said that some women managed somehow but many workers had no means at all to pay that much fee.

The women workers lacking means to pay this fee to become an elected member on a reserved seat, would be readily available for legwork and canvassing for the male candidates of their constituency.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2018

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